'Disturbing' : Supreme Court On Comedian Samay Raina's Remarks Against Persons With Disabilities

M/s Cure SMA Foundation has approached the Supreme Court assailing certain insensitive remarks made by comedian Samay Raina in relation to persons with disabilities.Briefly put, the allegation is that during a show, Raina ridiculed a high-cost treatment option for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) in case of a 2-month old child. In another instance, it is alleged that he ridiculed a blind and cross-eyed person. Besides Raina, the Foundation alleges that certain cricketers have also reportedly made insensitive videos mocking persons with disabilities.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh heard the plea today and told Senior Advocate Aparajita Singh (appearing for the Foundation) to file a comprehensive petition, impleading all concerned individuals who made such remarks and suggesting measures."This is very very serious issue. We are really disturbed to see that. We would like [you] to place on record the instances also. If you have video-clippings alongwith transcript, bring them. Implead the concerned persons. Also suggest measures which according to you...Then we will see", said Justice Kant.It may be recalled that the Court had earlier expressed an intention to do something to regulate obscene content on YouTube and other social media, and asked the Union Government about its views. The Court had sought a regulatory proposal from the Union "which may not encroach upon the Fundamental Right of free speech and expression but, at the same time, which is effective enough to ensure the reasonable restrictions within the meaning of Article 19(2) of the Constitution".Following this, M/s Cure SMA Foundation filed an application seeking impleadment in the matter. The application stated that the existing regulatory framework requires adequate and explicit protections to protect persons with disabilities from 'disabling humour' which is denigrating, demeans and disparages persons with disability, while at the same time not restrict disability humour which challenges conventional wisdom about disability.The Foundation raised concerns about the misuse of freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution by various stakeholders, including publishers of online curated content, news, self-styled influencers and content creators."Such misuse impinges upon the fundamental rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, propels offensive stereotypes and misguided portrayals and detrimentally impacts the societal perceptions which foster insensitivity and inhumanity. It is submitted that this results in perpetuating a lack of self-worth in such persons and leads to their alienation from the society which makes them even more susceptible to discrimination and indignities" the plea stated.Taking into account the averments, the Court asked that the Foundation file a comprehensive petition in place of the application.The development comes as part of Youtuber Ranveer Allahabadia's case, where the Court was today set to consider his plea for release of passport. The Youtuber had to deposit his passport with the Investigating Officer at Thane Police Station, as part of conditions imposed on him by the Supreme Court, while granting interim protection in the cases registered across different states over his remarks during the "India's Got Latent" show.Earlier this month, the Court was informed by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta that the ongoing investigation in the FIRs registered against Allahabadia over the subject remarks was likely to be completed in 2 weeks. Considering, the Court had expressed that Allahabadia's plea for release of passport/to travel abroad will be dealt with after investigations are complete.Today, Allahabadia's plea was adjourned by another week to await completion of the investigation qua him. Notably, his counsel, Dr Abhinav Chandrachud, informed during the hearing that every time Allahabadia is summoned, the authorities ask the same questions and later a press conference is held by the Head of the Department. Recently, it was alleged, a press conference was held wherein Maharashtra police officials made observations as to Allahabadia's guilt, saying that he was guilty of obscenity and a chargesheet would be filed. Taking note, Justice Kant expressed, "that's their wisdom...ultimately, guilty or not guilty, is to be decided by the Courts...[whenever] you bring the material on record, we will see that part".BackgroundAllahabadia (popularly known as Beer Biceps) and Chanchlani, among others, became the subject of a controversy after certain video clips from an episode of comedian Samay Raina's Youtube show "India's Got Latent" went viral. Besides Allahabadia, Raina and Chanchlani, YouTube celebrities Jaspreet Singh and Apoorva Makhija were also part of the episode.These video clips, which contained explicit sexual references in the context of parents, drew mass criticism and created huge outrage, of which Allahabadia and Raina bore the brunt. Soon after, Raina...

'Disturbing' : Supreme Court On Comedian Samay Raina's Remarks Against Persons With Disabilities

Debby Jain

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